5 Incredibly Smart Reasons Why You Need A Virtual Weight Loss Coach

When you're looking to get fit, there are a few mistakes you simply need to avoid. But there’s one that’s glaringly clear: without someone keeping you accountable and consistent, it’s too easy to quit.

Today, I’m going to share why you need a coach in your corner and why hiring a virtual weight loss coach is the glue your diet’s been missing.

Why diets are so hard to stick to.

How many diets would you say you have tried? 5…10…more?

I don’t ask to make you feel terrible or guilty, but to make the point: diets are easy to start, but insanely hard to stick with.

Here’s why.

Think back to your last diet. The first few weeks are when motivation is at its peak. When it’s easy. Packing a salad, steering clear of cake, and sweating it out at a 6 a.m. spin class couldn’t be simpler.

But then… we hit weeks four and five. And that’s when things get tough.

Packing a salad starts to feel boring and tedious. We say things like, “A couple bites of cake never hurt anyone.” And then there's the gym. Now it feels like you're dragging yourself there!

As time goes on, motivation fades and fades until "Poof!" it's gone. And that's when things turn from bad to worse. And without motivation pushing you, what felt easy is now impossibly hard.

And for most people, the fallback plan is good 'ol willpower. "I'll just fight my way through!", you say. And willpower works for a little while, but when we check back in a few days, you're barely scraping by. Now you’re left with nothing or no one there to keep you going. What's next? You guessed it! It's time to throw in the towel.

In fact, whether you succeed or not may boil down to this one question,

“When you're ready to throw in the towel, who's there to throw it back?"

Sadly, for most people, the answer is no one. That's why studies show a lack of support is a serious barrier to your success. I say it’s about time somebody has your back!

5 Reasons Why You Need To Hire A Weight Loss Coach

1.) You tried going it alone.

If you start a diet without support, you're climbing a mountain with one hand tied behind your back.

…Can you do it? Sure, lots of people have.
…Wouldn’t it be easier if you had someone to help? Absolutely!

Let me say this. I've worked with thousands of clients and know having a coach by your side makes all the difference in the world.

Here's how Janice explains it,

“I realized something very important was missing for me. I realized I needed someone to team up with, not a workout partner, not a trainer – I needed someone to not just believe in me and encourage my success, but to truly CARE if I succeeded. Care if I made it to the gym. Care if I stayed on track with my diet. Care – on a daily basis.”

You’ve tried going at it alone many, many times before. And you know it’ll be easier with someone to push you forward.

Who's there to believe in you and really care if you succeed?

2.) You need daily accountability.

Here's the problem with most diet and fitness programs. They give you workouts, meal plans, and sell you a monthly app subscription.

But:

What they're missing is the most important piece—support and accountability.

Think of it like this. Do you really need another meal plan or workout routine?

If you do, you’re only one search away. Just head to Google or YouTube and you'll find billions of recipes and exercises. One thing is certain, a lack of information isn’t the problem. In fact, there's too much already. We're drowning in it.

What you really need is someone to help you make commitments, make sure you follow through, and keep you consistent each and every day. Because without accountability, it's too easy to give in and give up.

Who's there to make sure you follow through on your commitments?

3.) You know what you “should” do, but don't.

"I know what to do, but I don't do it. Why?"

Has that question ever crossed your mind? I’m betting it has, so I’ll give you the answer: Fear.

The fear of failure, the fear of success, and the fear of discomfort keep you from doing the things you know you should do. We spend our whole lives avoiding fear and discomfort and wonder why we never see success.

• Eating healthy when you want to give in is hard.

• Facing your emotions (instead of avoiding them with food) is hard.

• Change is hard.

Here’s the deal. If there were an easy button, I would give it to you. Unfortunately, one doesn't exist. But what I can do is promise that having someone stick with you through every tough moment makes it easier. With a coach, you don't have to do this alone.

Who's going to be there with you when you work through the fear and discomfort?

4.) You need someone to take the guesswork out.

It’s hard to keep up with the latest diet fad.

• Are you supposed to be eating or cutting carbs?

• Should I jump on the fasting trend or not?

• How about fat…is everyone still saying Keto is the only way to go?

Here’s the short of it: all diets work, with one exception… you have to stick to it!

But the problem is, you’ll never stick to it if you’re eating food you can’t stand. Don’t like veggies? Then going vegetarian won’t work. If you’re trying to follow a diet you can’t see yourself doing five years from now, let alone five days from now, it’s doomed to fail.

A coach will help you cut through all the craze and confusion, work with what you like (or don’t), what you’re willing to change (or not), and help you come up with a plan you WILL stick to. When you’re looking to get fit, consistency is king. And the secret to consistency is following a plan you know you can stick to.

Who’s helping you build a diet/workout plan you believe will work for you?

5.) You need to dig deeper.

If the only thing you’re changing is the food you eat, that’s all that changes. And temporary change always means temporary results. But the goal is a permanent change. To finally stop the diet cycle. But to do that, stop worrying about what you can or can’t eat and focus on changing your Mindset, Psychology, and Habits around food.

When food is your solution to stress, boredom, and anxiety. When it’s what you turn to feel better or as your only source of pleasure, changing what you eat doesn’t fix why you’re eating in the first place.

“Treat the cause, not the symptoms.” -Said every doctor ever.

Food diets just treat what’s on the surface, but eating is just the sign of a deeper problem. Fix the root cause, and the symptoms will go away.

Who’s there helping you dig deeper and get to the reasons why you eat?

Where to hire a weight loss coach.

When you’re looking to hire a coach, there are two main options—local and virtual. Let’s talk about the main differences between the two.

With a local coach, you’ll have access to someone near you and someone you can talk to face-to-face. And this is a great option for a lot of people who prefer physical interaction. Typically, the drawbacks are that you have limited choices, little flexibility on the hours you can meet, and most likely won’t have access to them on weekends and holidays.

And those limitations have been the main driver behind the rise of virtual coaching.

What is a virtual health coach?

A virtual health coach is someone you work with online. They give you health advice and support through email, calls, texts, an app on your phone, or directly from your computer. A virtual coach gives you on-demand health advice, feedback, and accountability to help you stick to your fitness goals.

The main advantage you’ll gain by going virtual is access to a wider range of health coaches. Say you’re looking to lose 50 pounds, you’ll likely want to find someone who’s faced the same challenges you’re facing now. You’ll be able to relate to them, and they’ve been where you are and can give you meaningful advice.

At MyBodyTutor, we have a wide variety of coaches for this exact reason. If you’re a mother, father, or single parent looking to drop weight or gain muscle, we have Tutors that have been in your situation.

The second benefit you’ll gain with a virtual coach is flexibility. Whether you need help late a night, on a weekend, or on vacation, you can get it.

To decide which works for you, it’s best to weigh the pros and cons of face-to-face interaction, access to a coach you can relate to, and the flexibility and availability of when you can get help.

Finding the right coach.

With the right coach, you’ll have someone to challenge you, clear up all the diet confusion, motivate and push you forward, and—most importantly—help you change your mindset, psychology, and habits.

But, a word of caution: not all coaches, programs, and diet plans are created equal. To harness the true power of accountability and support, you need to choose carefully.

Before you hire a coach, get answers to these questions.

5 Questions You Need To Ask Before Hiring A Coach.

1.) What can I eat?

Will your coach have you follow the plan that worked for them? Do they demand you eat a strict soup and veggie diet? If the diet is something you know you can’t follow, you know it’s not going to work.

2.) What does the exercise plan look like?

I can’t tell you how many clients have told me they worked with X celebrity coach or Y trainer that required 60 minutes of exercise 7 days a week.

Does that sound like something you can fit into your schedule? Can you see yourself keeping it up five months from now? If not, keep looking.

3.) Do they only focus on food?

Here’s your game plan: Browse their site and tell me what you see. Are they talking about what foods you can or can’t eat? How many calories or points or macros you’re allowed a day?

Remember, you need to dig deeper than food. Treating the symptoms and not the cause only leads to temporary change.

4.) Do you get daily support?

I’ve been in this game for a long time and know 7 days (or even a month!) between check-ins is far too long. It’s like taking a wrong turn and driving 100 miles in the wrong direction. Things can go off the rails fast, and you’ll need immediate feedback.

What you’re looking for is daily accountability, coaching, and support.

5.) Do you get active or passive coaching?

Here’s what I mean: Do you have to call or email your coach to start the conversation? If so, that’s what I call passive coaching. If the program says you have “access” to a coach or that you’ll be part of a coaching "community," then what they’re saying is that it’s up to you. And that’s the exact opposite of what you’ll need to make this work.

Bonus question: What happens when you want to quit?

Maybe the most important question you can ask from a weight loss coach or program is, "What happens if you don’t hear from me or I want to quit?" And the answer you get will tell you everything you need to know.

If you need more help choosing the right coach, click here to read Weight Loss Coach: 11 Red Flags You Shouldn’t Ignore.